Franz, Wilson advance to Connecticut Junior Amateur finals

Ridgefield’s Andrew Franz tees off on Day 3 of the 76th Connecticut Junior Amateur at Watertown Golf Club on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. Franz advanced to Thursday’s championship match.

Ridgefield’s Andrew Franz tees off on Day 3 of the 76th Connecticut Junior Amateur at Watertown Golf Club on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. Franz advanced to Thursday’s championship match.

Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media

Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media

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Ridgefield’s Andrew Franz tees off on Day 3 of the 76th Connecticut Junior Amateur at Watertown Golf Club on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. Franz advanced to Thursday’s championship match.

Ridgefield’s Andrew Franz tees off on Day 3 of the 76th Connecticut Junior Amateur at Watertown Golf Club on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. Franz advanced to Thursday’s championship match.

Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media

Franz, Wilson advance to Connecticut Junior Amateur finals

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WATERTOWN >> Andrew Franz always looks forward to making a trip to Watertown to compete at Watertown Golf Club.

And for very good reason.

As Wednesday’s results indicated, good things happen to the 18-year-old Ridgefield resident when he plays at the club. Last summer saw Franz win the Connecticut Junior Amateur Championship, and Thursday he will seek to become the 10th player in 76-year history of the tournament to successfully defend his title.

Franz earned a return trip to the finals of the CSGA Connecticut Junior Amateur, defeating top-seeded Charlie Graham of Brooklawn Country Club, 4 and 3 in Wednesday’s semifinal-round.

The championship match features Franz and Will Wilson of Darien. Representing Wee Burn Country Club, Wilson pulled out a tough 2-up win against Greenwich’s Billy Nail (The Millbrook Club) in the other semifinal matchup.

“I wish every tournament was here,” a smiling Franz said after winning in the semifinals. “It must be 11 or 12 rounds that I’ve played here since last year, so knowing the course so well definitely helps. I’m very excited for tomorrow (Thursday’s final), it would be very cool to defend it.”

Franz quickly set himself up nicely in the semifinals <FZ,1,0,23> against Graham. Birdies on the first two holes gave him a 2-up advantage. He led 3-up after six holes and after Graham won the eighth hole, he gained a 4-up edge by winning Nos. 10 and 11.

“In match play, it’s important not to beat yourself up if you have a bad hole,” said Franz, who has won nine straight matches at Watertown Golf Club. “Momentum changes with one 15-foot par save. It’s easy to rack up holes when you’re playing well. And in match play, there’s no worries about big numbers on a hole. I have a more aggressive style, so it fits well with match play.”

Indeed, Franz seems to have learned how to attack the course.

“I try to be aggressive and the tee shots here give you options,” said Franz, who attended the American School in London, England. “The greens have been pretty soft and I’ve tried to take advantage of that the past couple of days.”

The Wilson-Nail match was a back-and-forth duel, including 11 lead changes. Wilson won the par-5, 478-yard first hole to take a 1-up lead and neither player had more than a 1-up edge until the 18th hole.

The match was all squared from the eighth until Nail took the lead with a par on the par-4 13th hole. Trailing 1-down on the 16th hole, Wilson made a clutch birdie to even the match.

He took a 1-up advantage with a birdie on No. 17 and won the final hole with a par to advance to the finals of the this tournament for the first time.

“Billy played a good round, it was back-and-forth the whole time,” said Wilson, a rising senior at Darien High School. “Getting it back to all square on 16 was important and the birdie on 17 was huge.”

Wilson knows the type of mentality it takes to succeed in match play.

“You have to try not get down on yourself if you lose a hole,” Wilson said. “Sometimes, it can be difficult to make up ground, but it’s also difficult to lose ground. I think this course is great for match play. There are some short par 5s, some difficult driving par 4s and some difficult par 3s. There’s a lot of strategy involved in what you hit off the tee.”

Nail, a rising GHS junior, advanced to the semifinal-round by defeating Colin Cusa of Westport (Longshore Golf Club) 2 and 1 in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinals in what was also a hard-fought match.

“I spent a lot of energy on the first three matches,” Nail said.

“First, I had to knock off the No. 2 seed, who shot a 70 in the first round (Finn Boynton, Great River Golf Club), the second match I took him to extra holes (19 hole win against Mani Capece (Watertown Golf Club), and the last match I won on 17. It’s pretty exhausting playing that much golf in a short period of time.

“Just limiting mistakes and not three-putting is huge in match play and I did that well the first three matches. But I let it slip toward the end of my last match. It came down to who made less mistakes toward the end and he definitely did that.”

Franz advanced to the semifinals by edging Greenwich High School rising junior Jackson Fretty 1-up in the quarterfinals.

“It was good to come back from last year, when I had a disappointing loss in the in the first round of this tournament,” Fretty said. “I was looking forward to playing match play again. I’m happy I came from behind in my matches in the first two rounds, which I won. Overall, I was able to hang in there with Andrew and I’m happy with what I accomplished at this tournament.”

Wilson defeated Tommy Dallahan (Hop Meadow Country Club) 5 and 3 in the quarterfinals, while Graham posted a 2-up win against Mac Mahoney (Hartford Golf Club) in the quarterfinal-round.